The Bird's Cage
by midknightXXX
Summary: AU Ryou Bakura was just a typical middle school student when one event came and turned his life upsidedown. Now forced into the illustrious and secretly dangerous prison known as DeadMan Wonderland, who knows what adventures await him? OC used.


Hikari: Hey everyone! I know I haven't updated in a long time, but I've had the worst case of writer's block and such. Anyway, here's my newest story based off of a RP with a very close friend of mine~

The characters for this story will be as follows:

Woodpecker (Ganta) - Ryou

Shiro (Wretched Egg) - Aura

Crow - Akefia

HummingBird - Mariku (Genderbend)

Toto (Mockingbird) - Bakura

Director - Pegasus

Chief of Security – Seto (Genderbend)

Chief's 'Lacky' – Mokuba (Genderbend)

Promoter - Atemu

Yoh - Marik

The Scar Crow Organization members:

Random OCs

The Anti-deadman:

Bandit Keith (Big Muscular One)

Rebecca (Little Girl)

Duke (Priest with Guitar)

Scar Crow:

Nagi – Dartz (Owl)

Karako - Amane

Rokuro – Tristan

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><p>Freedom. A word comprised of letters comprised of sounds holding a meaning deeper than its short length hints towards. Freedom can be many things: it is in the choices we make, the lives we lead, the friends we share our memories with and the family we may hold dear or shove away. To attain freedom, sacrifices must be made. Lives must be changed, ruined, ended for others to survive. The question then is simple; how far does one go to achieve their freedom? Is there such thing as true freedom? The world is one cage after another cage, or is it truly? Truth and freedom walk arm in arm, brothers in the family of living. One cannot exist without the other if one chooses a happy existence. Fighting for such a life is a choice many choose to make including one particular fourteen year old middle school student named Ryou Bakura.<p>

Ten years ago, a massive attack laid three-quarters of Tokyo in rubble, the city was left as it was for four years. The few survivors moved to live on the mainland, or what was left of Tokyo's city. Deadman Wonderland is Japan's only privately operated prison, built after the Great Tokyo Earthquake on ground zero. It gathers prisoners from all over Japan and raises money for the revival of the destroyed metropolis. To the public and the tourists that visit daily, Deadman Wonderland is a massive theme park-like facility run by the prison population. Unbeknownst to the general population, most of the prison's attractions involve cruel games of survival where many inmates lose their lives or are maimed for the entertainment of an oblivious public. The prison also runs a secret gladiator-like game called the Carnival Corpse, where wealthy anonymous donors pay to watch death matches between the prison's Deadmen. Deadmen who are defeated yet survive the game, have a part of their anatomy surgically removed for scientific research. In a cruel twist, the loser spins a macabre slot-machine to determine which part of their body will be removed, with the show being broadcast live to the other prisoners. The winner is awarded a large amount of Cast Points, the currency within the walls of Deadman Wonderland, life-saving candies, and other prizes.

But, to a simple-minded middle school student, such worries were far beyond the mindset of his youth. Currently, he was on his futuristic cellular device looking over Deadman Wonderland's homepage. A soft sigh escaped the white-haired male's lips, a hand rubbing at his muddy brown eyes tiredly. Despite lack of sleep, he had still made it to school on time and even with a portion of time left to relax at his desk.

"Unlike Yamakatsu..." Ryou Bakura mumbled quietly, his thoughts wandering around his childhood friend. "Always late..."

"Eating your breakfast at your desk again?" A female giggled lightly moving up to his desk, "You really should eat more often at home, or wake up a bit earlier." she said sitting in the desk in front of him.

"Yo, you left me behind Ry!" a male said, growling playfully.

Ryou smiled up at the girl first and greeted, "Mimi!" Then, turning a bit in his seat, "Yamakatsu, you were late! I waited for you and you never showed!" He frowned, then turned back to Mimi. "I thought I wasn't going to have enough time, but Yamakatsu over here proved me wrong."

Mimi giggled leaning on his desk a bit, "you two have the same argument nearly every day, you know?"

He rolled his eyes, "should have woken me up earlier, Baka." Laughing, he playfully punched his arm.

"So Ry, are you excited for the school field trip this year? Don't you think it'll be exciting to go into Old Tokyo?"

Turning a bit to the other, Ryou smiled excitedly. "It will certainly be interesting," he responded and flashed a picture of the Deadman Wonderland website he had been looking at. "We're going here, aren't we?"

Mimi nodded excitedly, "Yep! I can't wait!"

"I don't see what all the fuss is about, I mean, isn't it dangerous over there?" Yamakatsu asked and Mimi gave a shrug.

"If it was dangerous I don't think we'd be going."

"True," Ryou muttered softly, then looked to Yamakatsu. "Where did you hear it was dangerous?" He looked at his cellular device a moment.

He shrugged dropping is bag at his desk. "I just don't like the idea of going over there after everything that happened you know? Plus prisons just bother me."

Nodding, the male smiled at him before responding, "Like Mimi said, it can't be dangerous! I mean, the teachers wouldn't allow it..."

Mimi nodded. "Yep!" She then smiled at Ryou. "We're right!" Yamakatsu simply rolled his eyes and sat down when the school bell rang to signal the start of class. Ryou closed up his phone, turning to the front of the classroom. A sigh escaped his lips before he pulled out his notebook.

Several minutes passed by, class dragging by at a crawling pace. Mimi and Yamakatsu were busy away writing notes. Then, a soft female voice humming a song near silently passed through the classroom, a voice only one student could hear. In the window what seemed to be a man dressed in red straps and cape hovered down.

'That song…' Ryou turned a bit towards the window, eyes widening upon the sight of such a man. He got up sharply, his chair squeaking against the ground as a pale finger pointed towards the window. "H-He's floating?" the white-haired male managed to squeak. Sudden silence, the man grinned wickedly and hissed a tsking noise. A circle surrounded him and suddenly explosions started going off around the classroom. Screams filled the area, most of which being high-pitched and shrill. Ryou only had a moment to stare in horror before a flying desk smacked into his side and sent him flying. The explosions and destruction continued until the man walked through the darkened, bloody classroom, a head in his hand; the same sadistic grin on his face. He moved making sure not one of the students was left alive, well...most of them because, unluckily for the man, one student was still breathing.

"Wh-What happened…?" Ryou whispered near mutely, coming to his senses and rubbing at an eye. His eyes widened, letting out a throat clogging gasp as the sight of fresh blood reached his eyes and such a scent hit his nostrils.

Slowly, the man turned, holding Mimi's head in hand and his grin only grew more sadistic. Dropping the head he raised his hand, pointing his palm towards Ryou, the blood circles returned, forming in the center of his palm.

'I'm going to die.'

The thought was so simple, fear etched into each syllable. 'No, I can't... M-Mimi?' His eyes had finally noticed the head and, eyes widening, he let out a horrific shriek of terror.

The ball, meanwhile, continued growing in his hand before solidifying into a crystal-like form. A single chuckle and the crystal went flying, embedding itself deep into Ryou's chest like a bullet and disappearing under his skin. The male's screeches only seemed to heighten in volume, growing near unbearable until his world grew blurred. Ryou desperately clung onto life, onto consciousness, but one of his hands slipped and the white-haired male was sent crashing to the floor.

After Ryou had passed out, he hissed once more and disappeared from the scene entirely. Cops and ambulances were there in mere minutes, taking the only survivor, Ryou, to the hospital. The time in which it took to bandage the male up was rather short, the procedure itself simple. Once healed, the white-haired male slowly opened his eyes and gazed about his new scenery.

A couple of cops walked forward near moments after him waking. "Are you Ryou Bakura?" A male with tri-colored spiked hair and violet eyes asked.

He stared at the male a moment, eyes widening before Ryou wordlessly nodded.

"My name is Atemu Moto, I will be your lawyer representing you."

A cop cut in and placed handcuffs on Ryou. "Ryou Bakura, you are under arrest for the murder of twenty nine students within your school. You will now be taken in, please stand up."

Ryou was silent, staring at the handcuffs upon his hands in shock and horror. Thoughts a racing mess, he found his body slowly rising. "But…" he whispered in disbelief.

The moment he was on his feet, two officers grabbed his shoulders and began moving him forward, "Don't worry," Atemu said with a large smile on his face, "we'll get you out of this, don't you worry."

Looking up at Atemu, he felt a sort of hope move through him. Help, he had help on his side, but… "Wait, I didn't do it!" Ryou cried out suddenly, moving a hand to his chest and pulling down his shirt. "The Red Man, he did it and he injured my ch-" He broke off suddenly, staring in utter shock at his chest. There was not a single mark, a scratch, even a bump.

"You hit your head pretty hard passing out," Atemu said and grabbed his shoulders in a friendly sort of way. "Don't worry. We'll figure this out so just relax, alright?"

Biting his lip hard, he couldn't help the corners of his lips turning upwards into a weak sort of smile. "O-Okay," he whispered in reply, though his thoughts continued to hang about his chest area.

A nod and the 'lawyer' turned and walked out of the building, the cops were close behind pushing Ryou out as well. Outside, the crowd yelled and screamed profundities and curses, condemning the albino as he walked to the police car where he would be taken to the local police station as they worked their way through up until the trial.

The trial itself was brutal, rulings all thrown against Ryou. Despite all of his attempts, his words, his reasoning, "The jury finds Ryou Bakura guilty of all charges. He has been sentenced to death."

The white-haired male stared blankly, unable to believe such words had passed through the other's lips. Finally, "Wh-What?"

The guards moved towards him and began walking him away slowly, the courtroom cheered happy he was being put away. Still, Ryou continued to hold still for a few moments as his heart pounded against his chest. Then, at a high-pitched shriek, "I'm innocent I tell you! It wasn't me, it was the Red Man you insane lunatics!" He managed to break free from his hold, racing away and screaming his words to the court room in a desperate hope that someone, anyone, would believe him.

A couple of the fathers of the parents jumped out of the crowd, one including Mimi's father himself, and beat Ryou to the ground landing punches and kicks where they could reach. Mimi's father grabbed his collar pulling a fist back, "you were like a son to me! A-and you betrayed me...and her! How could you...you… Monster!" He punched Ryou hard and his cell phone fell out of his pocket onto the floor.

His phone opened up, Ryou letting out a scream form the impact before growing silent. Upon the holographic screen was Ryou, or at least, it appeared to be him. He stood within Atemu's office, a smug look on his face. "Fool the jury?" he was asking in a cocky tone. "Child's play! And to have killed my classmates as well, an interesting twist indeed… I do, however, wonder where that one whore went. I wouldn't mind feeling her up one last time!" The holographic Ryou threw his head back to laugh before the phone went dead and the true Ryou felt tears enter his eyes.

"Y-you... You Monster!" Mimi's father managed to work in a couple more brutal punches before officers were on him and dragging him off. A couple others were picking Ryou up and walking him away from the angry mob forming within the court room. Ryou, however, noticed none of this. He was bleeding badly, injured beyond what he could comprehend and crying freely. "I didn't do it, I didn't do it!" he whispered over and over again to no avail. Someone covered his wounds just enough to stop the bleeding before he was tossed in the back of a cruiser and hauled away to DeadMan Wonderland, where his sentence would be played out.

"A new life…" he said softly to himself as he stared out a barred window. "I'm innocent, I'm innocent, really, I'm innocent…"

* * *

><p>Yamie: Well, what did you think? R&amp;R!<p>

~midknightXXX


End file.
